Lana Pudar and Džanan Musa are the best athletes of BiH in 2024.

(Patria) - Bosnia and Herzegovina has chosen its best athletes for the 24th time, and the year drawing to a close was marked by swimmer Lana Pudar and basketball player Džanan Musa.

The two were crowned tonight at the "Holiday" hotel in Sarajevo at the event for the selection of the best athlete of BiH, organized by Nezavisne novine and Radio Television of BiH.

The jury of the 24th selection of the best athlete of BiH unanimously decided that this year's laureates would be Lana Pudar and Džanan Musa, who had an unforgettable year behind them. This is the third consecutive time that Lana and Džanan have received these prestigious titles.

This year, the jury was chaired by the best BiH athlete of all time, Amel Tuka, who, along with the rest of the jury, had a difficult task, but ultimately made fair decisions with the consensus of all.

The partner of this year's selection was the Olympic Committee of BiH, the umbrella sports organization of BiH.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH also provides strong support for the most relevant selection of this kind in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Lana Pudar once again wrote the history of BiH sports and swimming this year.

At the World Championships in Doha, she won a bronze medal in the 200-meter butterfly. It was the first medal ever for BiH at world championships.

She continued her medal haul from major competitions at the European Championships in Belgrade. She won a silver medal in the same discipline as in Doha.

Also, Lana competed this summer at the Olympic Games in Paris. She reached the semi-finals of the 200 meters and finished 12th overall, while she was 17th in the twice shorter distance.

Also competing were skier Elvedina Muzaferija, cyclist Lejla Njemčević, karateka Marina Kurteš...

Džanan Musa also showed his class this year in the jerseys of Real Madrid and the BiH national team.

He crowned a phenomenal season in the "royal club's" jersey with a championship title in Spain, and his performances earned him the award for the most valuable player of the ACB league finals series against Murcia.

With Real Madrid, he also played in the Euroleague final, and at the Final Four, he was the best player of his team with a total of 35 points scored.

His importance is shown by the fact that he extended his contract with Real Madrid this summer until the summer of 2025.

He brought the BiH national team to the brink of qualifying for Eurobasket 2025.

The victory in "Skenderija" against Croatia (110:90) will be remembered for a long time, and Musa finished that match with 19 points. The Dragons now, two rounds before the end of the qualifiers, decide their own fate.

The competition for the best athlete included names such as Sead Kolašinac (football), Benjamin Burić (handball), Anes Bostandžić (karate)...

Traditionally, awards were presented in a total of 12 categories.

The title of best team went to Borac Football Club, which wrote the most beautiful pages of the club's history this year. They won their third BiH championship title, and their European appearances were the icing on the cake.

Borac eventually qualified for the group stage of the Conference League, in which they also recorded historic victories against APOEL and LASK.

On behalf of the "red and blues", the award was received by the President of the Assembly of FK Borac, Stojan Malbašić.

The award for the best coach deservedly went to Mladen Žižović, head of the professional staff of FK Borac. Žižović was the architect of the Banjaluka team's historic results on the European stage.

The title of most promising female athlete and most promising male athlete was awarded to tennis player Tea Kovačević and athlete Arian Milicija.

An award for the development of sports was also presented, and this title went to Respekt Football Club.

The jury awarded the sports role model award to the phenomenal Ismail Zulfić, while the best athlete in Paralympic sports is the amazing swimmer Ismail Barlov.

The award for the best team in Paralympic sports went to the BiH national sitting volleyball team.

Lifetime achievement awards were presented to the celebrated FK Željezničar player Enver Hadžiabdić, former football star and first coach of the BiH national football team Fuad Muzurović, BiH sports legend Zlatan Saračević, and posthumously to the legendary FK Sarajevo player Dženan Uščuplić.

The hearts of the readers of "Nezavisne novine" and visitors to the portal www.nezavisne.com this year were won by karateka Anes Bostandžić, silver medalist at the World Championship in the U21 category, and gold medalist at the European Championship in Georgia.

Thus, the 24th selection marked the end of the sports story of 2024. Vinko Ćemeraš performed in the musical part of the event.